Hitting a hole-in-one is hard enough. Now consider that Leo Fiyalko is 92 years old and blind.
”I was just trying to put the ball on the green,” he said.
Fiyalko, who has macular degeneration and has been golfing for 60 years, scored the ace with a five-iron on the 110-yard fifth hole at Cove Cay Country Club on January 10.
Fiyalko tees off every Thursday with a group of golfers ranging in age from 70 to more than 90. He used to have a seven handicap, but needs help lining up shots and finding golf balls because he has peripheral vision only in his right eye.
Jean Gehring was in Fiyalko’s foursome and watched his swing on the hole-in-one.
”I could tell it went on the green,” Gehring said. ”When we got up there I didn’t see it. I looked in the hole and there it was.”
Gehring said Fiyalko was modest about the shot and had to be prodded to tell his wife about it after the round. Fiyalko’s friends at the club presented him with a plaque last week to commemorate the feat. — Sapa-AP